Knitting-machine needle



Jan. 8 1924; Re. 15,740

R. w. scQTT I'INITTING MACHINE NEEDLE A Original Filed May l, 1920 Z5SheetS-Sheet 1 Tiqz. Taga. Tiq. 191% af /15 'WWM 150/6 Rber W 306412 Jan. 1924. Re. 15,740 R. W` SCOTT KNITTING MACHINE NEEDLE Original Filed May ,1, 1920 5 Sheets-5heet 2 Jan.` 8 19.24. j Re. 15,740

R. W. SCOTT KNITTING MACHINE NEEDLE original Filed May 1, 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Reissued Jan. 8, 1924.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

l ROBERT W. SCOTT, OF BABYLON, NEW YORK.

KNITTING-MACHINE NEEDLE.

Original No. 1,385,929, dated July 2B, 1921, Serial o. 378,233, filed May 1, 1920. Application for reissue filed April 30, 1923. Serial No. 635,715.

Division A., I

To ((Z u'homi! ma]] '(:our'c/'n I Be it known that 1, Homini' lv. SCOTT, a citizen of the' United' States ,(rfpilne'l'ica. residing in Babylon, in the county of Sutl'olk, 6 inithe State of New York. have inx'ented certain new and useful Knittimg-Machine Needles. of which the follmvinf-r is a `specification.

My invention consists of an l'mproi'ed con- 10 struction of knitting machineincedles and means for Operating these needles.

The most common form of lmitting machine needle is that whose hooked end is w proridedwith a pivoted lateh. sesses the fault of' weakness of the structure 4at the pivoting' point. The finer the ;zagro the more (liflicult it is to ;zet a sufliciently strong construction at this pivoting pointof the latch. Some modern machines 2 are made in such line ffages as to requirekthe use of needles as small as .020 inch in thicle ness. ln such a needle the walls at each side of the slot in which the latch plays are. so thin and weakened to so great an eXtent by the hole for the laitch pivot that they will not withstand the strains. especially when in loperation at the high speed atwhich modern knitting machines are run; any pressureapplied sidewise to the latch will 'ause the, walls of the needle near the. pivoting` point to separate. and so cause the latch piv'ot to become loose and prorrude at one side or the other and interfere With and break theI Yarn and cause waste and uneven faulty work.

,A further objection to the, latch needle is `that owing to the. incline of the latch in its closed position, combined with the width of the latch at its outer end, considerahle strain this is more especiallyv trouble'some in the case of the secondary knittingneedles in' rib knitting. machines.

heard needle has been' tried to overeome vthese difliculties.

zstructio'n, the spring heard needle is free from some of the described (hsadvantages of the common three-piece 'latoh needle., but

it has been found that such a-'spring heard nedle, when employed in a circular stocking knitting machine, for example, where each needle is operated independently to draw the This pos is put upon the old loop in castingy off, and

The employment of the well knownspringI Being a one-piece con-' stiteh, has developed faults as pronounced as those of the common latch needle.

The spring heard needle when used as a secondary needle (for instance in the dial` of a rib-knitting machine in which the yarn is first fed to and drawn into loops by thel cylinder needle). has the serious fault of not providimcr sullicientfiroom between the old loops and the incoming threadwhieh is to Vform the new loop, to permit the 4pressing of said heard over the new loop and beneath i a space between the ineomingv yarn and the old loop to insurethat the heard. of the needle may he pressed at vthe right stage.

To provide a knitting instrument which iwill bei'free from the objections to which the elatch needle and spring heard ne'edles,

are subject, especially infino gage machines,

I make use of a composite 'needle oftwo elements, one being provided with-any suitable drawing hook to take the new loop of yarn, and the other being preferably .aslide pro,- vided with a hook to take the loop from the dr'awing hook part ofv the ncedle and actively cast it off over the new loop which meantime has been drawn, through it. These elements which, for convenience maybe termed the dra'wing` and casting elements, are of the same width, to fit and be uided in the needle gro'oves of the ``rcylin erfor dial and preferably to slide upon each other.

In the accmnpanying draWings- Figure 1`is a skeleto-nside view drawnlto an enlarged scale of the operative ends of .',thetwo needle elements; w

Fig. 2 is a section on the line2-2, Fig. 1; s

Fig. 3 is a section on thelline 3-3, Fig. 1 Fig.`v 4 is a similar section of a modificatifln; a

Fig. 5 is aV face view of the vhook of the drawing needle element; v

Figs. 6, 7, S and 9 are views showing Cliff ferent positions siicces'sively taken by the" two needle elements in knitting;

F ig.`l0 is a diagram of needle cams which may be employcd to actu'ate these needle elements;

and corresponding cylinder cams which may be employed for the operation of my needles in a rib-knittirg machine;

Fig. 17 is a view of a modification.

The element A, which I'have spoken of as the drawing needle, has the main portion of its shank 20 with a butt 21, (Fig. 6), of any usual and' convenient construction to be z acted on by the needle cams, the sh'ank being guidedin a needle groove in the needle cylinder C or di'al, as the case may be. At

its operative end, this needle has a hook a of a' shape suitable to take the yarn fed thereto from theyarn guides and draw it into a loop.

With this drawing needle A I combine a loop-carryin'g and casting needle element B, the shank 23 ofwhich 'is preferably of the same thickness as the shank of the needle element A and adapted to be guided in the same. needle groove. This element B may have any suitable form of, butt 24 to be acted on byneedle cams in the cylinder 01' clial, as the case may be. This element B has at its active' end a hook b with a return bend, the open side of the 'hook facing toward the hook a of the needle element A. The shanks of the drawing needle A and the element B slide u on each other, and the usual coiled spring 8, ig. 1, bears against the outside of the shank of the element B to maintain the two elements of the needle together and in the needle grooves of the carrier. o For a portion of the length of the shanks, toward their hooked ends, the two elements may have guiding grooved connection with each other. Preferably the shank of the needle element A has a V-shaped groove as seen at Fig. 3 to receive the adjacent V-shaped edge of the shank of the slide B. B .Or if preferred, somey other form of grooved guiding connection, for instance such as shown in Fig. 4, may be employed.

This grooved guiding connection of thel two parts is such that it is maintained in all working positions of the parts, and missing of stitches is thereby prevented.

The grooved ortion of the shank of the needle element X may be formed by offsetting the shank as seen at 25 in Fig. 1. Toward their butt' ends the adjacent faces of 4will hereinafter explain.

The open sides of the hooked ends of the needle e ements A and 'B face toward each -other without overlapping in the direction of, the plane in which t e hooks lie, as shown in the drawings,and I prefer to form the hook a of the part A of a flattened cross-section, such as indicated in F ig. 2, while the hook b of the element-B may have its neck of a trian lar cross-section and its outer end pointe as also shown in the same Fig. 2.` The flattened outer end of the hook a may be brought to a point as seen in Fig. 5.

In Fig. 6 to 9, I have shown'successive positions takenby the drawing element A and the element B under the action of the needle cams shown in Fig. 10. In this Fig.` 10, I have drawn'dotted lines at 6, 7, 8 and 9, corresponding to the positions reached by the needles as shown in Figs. 6-, 7 8 and 9, respectively, it being assumedv that the circle of needles is traveling relatively to the cams in the direction of the arrows, F'ig. 10. In the several Figs. 6 to 9, the levelof the bottom off the throats of web holdersisiindicated by the dotted line z. 'w'

In Fig. 6, the drawing element A has begun to retract under the action of the center cam 30 after taking the new yarn y fed to the yarn guides and the hook b of the ele-l ment B is'ready to take the old loop which eov is on the shank of the element A. At 7,`l

Fig. 10, this part B has been retracted by the upper center cam 40, so that the hook b of this element B has drawn back the old loop w, Fig.v 7. At 8, the part A has been retracted by the cam 31, while the part B is.

A without frictional contact with the part A..

At 9, the element A has been fully retracted bg' the cam 31 and has pulled the new loop ;z/ t r llt) ough the old loop w without contact of the new loop with the part B, while the part continuingv to be projeoted under the action of the cam 41, has carried the loop w' clear 'of the needle element A and .to the verge of the cylinder (or dial) and by the time the needle element Bhas reached its highest or ,outermost position, the hook b has dropped the'loop a: 'on the legs of the loop y, leaving the loop'w and the fabric free to be fed away from .the knitting point by I the action of the web holders' or the tension of a web take-up. The parts B with their hooks b, moreover, in respect to stresses on i the old yarn .loop in the direction of the necdlehook' a'virtually constitute a web'- holder. i i

This (-onstruetion and this mode of o'pera- Sary to draw off .enough yarn for the new loo'p'. in order to take (it-through the displaced old loop. and requires the use of an,

extraordinary amount. of weight upon the fabric 'to asslst m the knocking over of the 'old loop;)M This has always been a ditficnlty in Operating rib ltnitting machines employ ing lateh lneedles` because it canses an undue strain upon the ineoming varn. and freqnent faults in the'fabric result therefrom.

These ditficulties lare entirely overeo'me by the employmcnt of the two-part needles and their mode of Operation hereinhefore desceibed. In Figs. 12 and 13 and 14, I have illustrated sucha needle in. a dial, With the two parts of the ncedle in diferent positions, andiinv Figs. 15 and'lG I have shownv sufficicnt of 'the dial and cylinder camsV to illustrate the Operations of thcsetWo-part' needles. The cam 'groove Flof the dialcap Fig. 15; engages the bntts of the needle ele- :nent ;1.1 of Figs. '12 a-nd 13; while-the groove (i cngages the huttsof the hooked elements B1. The direction of movementof the needles in relation to thel cams is indicated by the arrows in Figi.` 15. In Fig. 16, I hate illnstrated eorresp'onding ('ams to act upon the corresponding needles iu the cylinder.

The linesvK.l K 'of thel respective fignres ai'e in the same radial plane, and the cylinf'fiider stitchl cam 45 operates while the dial needles A1 are in the partV 28.0f their cam groove, andv rior to their'retraction by cam 29 HThe diayneedlcs are thus the secondary T100' v lleferring- 'to File. '15,;it avill be seen that while the needleelements B* are at restin their neutral :or inne'rmost position wit'h their butls in the section. 27 of the groove G, the vnee'lle elements A' are being projectcd by thc'cam 3G to their ontermost position in' the'gzroore 28. Asothe needle element A1, after takingY the 'stitch is retracted by the cam 29,'the part B1 is pa'rtially projected by the cam 30 into aposition substant-ially like that shown by full linesfin Figj v13. s the inward movement of-t'he needle element A1, With*` the new loop eontinnes the slide B1 is projeeted farther outwardly lthe peak. 31 of the. cam,

3(Fig. 15), or substantlally to'-thepositioni shown by dotted lines in Fig. 13. In lother words, as the -needle A1 is being retracted to draw the new`loop, the old loop is being aetively earried. in the opposite direr't'ion by the needle element B1 without harmt'ul fr'ictioiialy contact of the loop with the needle l. By the time the part Bl has rcached its outern'lost position, the old loop is 'free to drop off the hooked end of the needle element B1.

This coaction of the parts of the needle enables the needle to be t'cd as Va secondary, to 'draw the ne\v-c(.urse secondary loops from the runs between the cylinder needles. and to knock over the'last course of secondary loops on the new loops` without (lrawintl said previous secondary loops Within the rerge of the dial.

In the ('ase of the dial needles, the -yarns Vare handlecl by the ncedle elemenls in a,

similar wav to that described with reference to the vcylinder needles. Thus, asseen in Fig. 11, the loop .r rises on the shank ofthe drawing implement, A', as' the latter is projected. and the ('astiine` impleinent B' on being retracted will cause its hook 1)' to enter and engage the old loop m on the shank of the drawing implement by catering that loop on the outcr side, that is.r outer side With relation to the outer and operating` ('nds of the needles.V Meantime the drawir'if,r implement Will draw the yarn, which it has taken, into a ucn' loop through the old loop, while the latler is being carried out- Wardly over the new loop by the book b' of the projectedinipleine-nt `vil'l bel (fast off by plcmcnthas reached the dottcd'lines in lfig. 13.

The instrument B (or 13') might be ('onsidered' as in the nature of a slidilrer lalch, while the'instrument (or might be considered the needle.

The relation of the hooked ends of the and the 'loop position shown by the time said casting iniinst-rnmcnts (A') and B (B') to eachl other is such that as the instrument| A Is retracted, it drawsthe new loop through the old loop without contact of the new' loop With the instrument B The two needle elements A1 and 131 may 'be held in the ,grooves in the dial in inch they are lidably mountcd by suitable 1'etaining means suehjfor example as those indicated in the Swinglehurst Patent' 1,314,377,

ldated August 26, 1919.

- Referri'ng` again to Figs. 1 to to make the end of the hook a of the needle elementJ` A with a comparatively broad face '3/' (Fig. 2) toward the -llook 'b of the part B in order that the point of that hook b may have a Wide bearing and so avoid danger of the two points slipping' by each other under pressure of the old loop m, Fi,". 1. 1 The broadening of the hook of the needle element may be made by brine'ing the metal to ,cross section of a fiattened oral, Fig. 2,

5, I prefer may bo done before the hook is formed on' the needle. As shown in F ig. 5, the extreme end of the h-ook of the needle element A may be brought to a point, and this is a convenient incident of the flattening process. i

When the described construction is to be used on` stocking knitting machines, for example, and consoquently about one half of the needles have to bc projected out of action b a suitable switch cam and picking devices, when knitting the heels 'and toes, some of the needle elements A will be raised to the positions shown in Fi 11, bringing the offset 26 in shanks o the needles to a point to permit constant reciprocation of the hookof the member B past said offset 26 without int-erference with the thread wrapped about the shanks of the elevated and inactive needles.

A switch cam and picking devices suitable for this purpose are such as are commonly used on circular hosiery knitting machines, as illustrated forl example in my patent 1,152,850. i i

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be noticed that the bottom of the V-groove in the shank of the needle element while parallel with the tongue of -the part B for the major portion of the length of said groove, is`

curved or beveled inwardly at each end, as

shown by lthe dotted line as at 104, Fig'. 1.,

The purpose of this is to insure the entrance f of the point of the'hook of the' part B into'y`v the groove in the needle member A, even*` vment, during motionrof the casting implethough the stitch strain draws or Springs the members toward each other after the faces of the hooks are outl of contact with each other.

In some cases it is neither necessary nor desirableito have the coacting faces of the needle elements tongued and grooved. In that case, the coacting faces are straight without offset of either as illustrated in the modification, Fig. 17, and the point of the hook. b of 'the casting element B2 extends slightly below the plane of .the upper sur face of the shank of the needle element Aa and takes into a groove 103 to en age the old loop. The cam cap E of the dia affords aperfect hearing against upward thrust.

I do not herein claim a two-part knitting needle withA an offset, such as 26, for accommodating the old loop when said needle part is projected out of knitting position, nor do I claim a knitting machine provided with needles each .in two relatively movable parts, one of said parts'heing to draw a loop and the other for casting, in combination with separate means to reciprocate the two parts independently of each other, the loop-drawing part being adapted to bc mcved to inactive position to ,hold a loop, while-the casting part remains in reciprocation as) these features form the subject of my divisional reissue application Serial No. 635,716 of even date herewith;

I claim as my invention:

i 1. A knitting machineV needle in two parts, one a loop-drawi'ng implement and the other a hooked casting implement in combination with means Whereby the last named implement is caused on its retraction to enter and engage a previous loop on said loop drawing implement, 'and the latter is i caused to draw yarn for a new loop throu h said previous loopl without contact of t e new loop with the casting implement.

2. A knitting machine needle in.-twoV parts, one a loop-drawing implement and the' other a hooked castin implement in combination with means w ereby the last namedimplement is caused to enter 'and engage a previous loop on said loop-drawing implement and the latter is caused to draw yarn for a new loop throu h Said previous loop without contact of t e new loop'with the casting implement, which is .operated to then cast of the old loop during movemen't of the two implements in op'- posite directions. v

A knitting machine needle in two parts, one a hooked loop'di'awing implement nainedfimplement is retracted to thtreby e ,I'fand engage a previous loop on'saidj i10''qpfdrawing implement, and the latter is' v;ret'l'actedto draw a, new loop Without con- "tact of the letter with'the casting imple ment in the opposite direction to cast off the previous loop. w 4. ,Secondary knitting machine i needles each in two parts, one ahooked loop-drawing implement and the other ahooked casting implement in combination with primar knitting needles and means to o erate bot setsof' needles in'relation to eac other for rib-fknitting, said means includin means said loop-drawin implement and the attef are caused to through said previous loops Without contact of the new loops 'with the casting implements.

5. A knitting machine needle intwo parts. of t'he same maximum width, one part with ra drawing hook to draw a new loop and the other having a hook adapted on the retraction of said otherpart'to enter and engage a previous loop on said drawing part andL thereafter cast of said old loop.

6. A knitting machine needle inf'two one having aihook to draw a new loo whil the other has a hook' with a return nd engage and take a previous loop from the first mentioned part, the hooks of 'the two parts being of the same maximum width.

7. A knitting machine needle in two parts having their shanks in guiding grooved connection with each other and one part having a hook to draw the new loop, while the other has a hook with return bend to enter and to take the old loop from the first mentioned part.

8. A knitting machine needle in two parts having their shanks with adjacent edges in guiding grooved connection with each other in all operative positions, one part being a needle element hooked to draw the yarn into a new loop, and the other part having a hook with a return bend to take the old loop from said needle' and thereafter. cast it off.

9. A knitting machine provided with twopart needles, one part being hooked to draw `the yarn into a new loop, the other part being adapted to take the old loop from said needle part and `thereafter cast it' off, in combination with means for projecting the loop casting part at the same time that said first part is retracting the new loop Without contact of the latter withthe casting implement.

10. A knittin machine having a of series of nee les and means for Operating them in primary and secondary relation to the same yarn, the secondary needles being two part needles, one part being hooked to draw the new loop without contact of the new loop with the other part, and this other part being also hooked to take the loop from said first part in combination with means for simultaneously moving the two parts in opposite directions.

11. A knitting machine having cylinder 'and dial needles, the latter needles being each in two parts, one having a hook to draw a new loop fromthe cylinder needle yarn without contact of the new loop with the other part of the needle while said other part has a hook with a return bend to take the previous'loo'p from the drawing part of the 'fneedle in combination with n'ieansto positively actuate said two parts 'in different directions.

12. A knitting machine provided with two-part. needles, the two parts having width and with the open sides facing each hooked Operating ends of the same maximum other and one adapted to take a loop from plnrality i the other in combination with cam means to project one part while the other is retracted.

13. A knit-ting machine provided with two'part needles, the two-parts having hooked Operating ends with the open sides of the hooks facing each other in combination with cam means to positively actuate the two parts, one part in one direction to draw the new loop without contact with the other part, and said other part to take the old loop from the first mentioned part and to move said second part in the opposite direction to carry and discharge the old loop clear of said new-loop hook.

14:.v A knitting machine provided' with two-part needles, the two parts having hooked Operating ends with the open sides of the hooks facing each other without overlapping in combination with cam means to positively actuate the two parts, one part in one direction to draw the new loop and the other part to take the old loop from the first mentioned part and to move said second part in the opposite direction to carry and discharge the old loop clear of said newloop hook.

15. A knitting machine needle in two parts, in sliding relation to each other, with hooked Operating ends, the open Vsides of the hooks facing each other, the end of onoI hook having a supporting face for the end of the other hook.

16. A knitting machine needle in two parts, one a loop-drawing. implement with a shank having a grooved inner face and the other a casting implement with a return bend hook adapted when retracted to enter the shank of the drawing implement, said groove being beveled at the end for the purpose set forth.

17. A knitting machine needle in two parts in sliding relation to each other and In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

ROBERT W. SCOTT.

said groove to engage the previous loop onv 

